5 Time Saving Tips for 2008

Swamped already? We are only days into 2008!

Check out these 5 time saving workflow tips.

For Firefox and Safari users:
Tip 1: See an interesting phrase on a web page you are visiting, rather than re-typing that phrase into a search bar, simply highlight the phrase and right-click or control-click. You’ll get a pop-up menu showing Search Google for [phrase here].
Estimated savings: 5-8 seconds

For Microsoft Word users:
Tip 2: Instead of going up to the Tools menu > Word Count, simply check the bottom of your document. Those numbers at the bottom are telling you how many words are in your document. For example, if you’re at the bottom of a 4 page document, you’ll see:

Page 4 Sec 1 4/4   |   At 3.3” Ln 9 Col 1   |   0/1083

“1083” is indicating that I have 1083 words in my document. If I highlight my last sentence (9 words), it would appear 9/1083. The selection is a word count of 9, the full document’s word count is 1083.

Cool eh?
Estimated savings: 8-10 seconds

Tip 3: Hate when Word auto selects an entire word, even though you’re trying to select only a few letters?
Change this in the preferences. Preferences > Edit and deselect the checkbox for “When selecting, automatically select entire word”.
Estimated savings: 4 seconds

Tip 4: Loathe Word making every URL and email address a web link? You can change that too.
Tools > AutoCorrect > AutoFormat As You Type. Deselect the checkbox for “Internet paths with hyperlinks”.
Estimated savings: 1-10 seconds and a significant reduction in teeth clenching

For email marketers:
Tip 5: Alex Dunae has created a cool little program called Premailer. If you have a web page or text document that you want converted to email-ready HTML, you enter the URL of your file and out comes the code with the CSS styles converted to inline style attributes.

http://code.dunae.ca/premailer.web/

Estimated savings: hours-months (depending of course on your technical know-how)

For entrepreneurs:
Bonus Tip: There are 168 hours in a week. If you spend 56 hours sleeping, 10 for hygiene, that leave 102 hours. That’s not really a lot of time for doing all the things that need to get done. So delegate and eliminate. Look at all the things you have to do the next day and after each item note whether it’s the best use of your time. If it’s not, delegate it to someone else. If it’s not even worth delegating, eliminate it from the list.

Don’t have someone to delegate to? Look for volunteers, co-op students, friends, neighbours, family members. In Vancouver, there’s GoVolunteer Probono, which takes applications from organizations needing skilled volunteers. If there really is no one, examine how you’re prioritizing tasks. There’s always something that can be eliminated.

Have a good time saving tip? Post it in the comments below.